A powerful committee of MPs is to investigate whether the number of pupils and parents who accuse teachers of misconduct is growing.

MPs on the cross-party Children, Schools and Families select committee will also examine the kinds of allegations pupils and parents make.

They will look into whether teachers should continue to be protected with anonymity while charges against them are investigated, and whether records of allegations found to be false should be kept.

When a teacher is dismissed for reasons of misconduct or has been convicted or cautioned by the police, schools or the police must report the teacher to the General Teaching Council for England.

The number of complaints being referred to the GTCE is on the rise. Between March 2007 and March 2008, there were 506 – 90 more than in the same period the year before.

The majority of these were for minor criminal offences. The number of false allegations against teachers is not known.

Barry Sheerman, chair of the select committee and a Labour MP, said a teacher in his constituency, Huddersfield, had had his career ruined by false allegations.

The teacher, whom Sheerman did not name, was suspended for misconduct and investigated by police and the local authority. He was found to be innocent.

But being under investigation for 18 months had caused him great distress.

Sheerman said this was becoming "more and more frequent".

He said: "I want to know what proportion of these allegations are proven to be true. It seems that we treat teachers as guilty until proven innocent and that is not the way the British justice system is meant to work."

Teachers should not be immediately suspended when a pupil or parent makes an allegation against them because this implies guilt, Sheerman said. Word then gets out at school that they are being punished.

Sheerman said: "There are some pretty smart kids on the block who know how they can get back at a teacher who has told them off. Teaching professionals feel vulnerable. This is something a lot of MPs are concerned about."

Douglas Carswell, a Conservative MP on the select committee, said the investigation hoped to discover whether allegations against teachers were being more widely reported or whether more were being made.

He said: "I imagine that young people now are more willing to complain than in the past."

But Brian Lightman, immediate past president of the Association of School and College Leaders, denied the number of allegations against teachers was on the rise and said complaints procedures did not need to change.

He said: "There are proper protections in place and a great deal has been done to safeguard students and staff."

The MPs are asking teachers, school governors, parents, academics, charities and government associations to write to them with their views on the topic. Their investigation will start next month.

· This article was amended on Friday April 3 2009 to correct a potentially misleading paragraph.